When Colorado needed it most, the two biggest stars on the field shined.
During a 38-31 overtime victory against Baylor on Saturday night at Folsom Field, quarterback Shedeur Sanders threw a 43-yard strike for a touchdown on the final play of regulation to tie the game. And Travis Hunter came up with the game-sealing forced fumble in overtime to win it.
Yet, as head coach Deion Sanders pointed out after the game, “It’s not just those guys.”
Against Baylor, several players came through in key moments for the Buffs (3-1, 1-0), who will take a two-game winning streak into a matchup at Central Florida (3-0) on Saturday (1:30 p.m. MT, Fox).
CU will have a shot to win a lot of games because of Shedeur and Hunter, but will need plenty of help to get over the top and win, and they got that help on Saturday.
Receiver LaJohntay Wester hauled in Shedeur’s pass in the end zone, brushing aside what had been a quiet night up to that point. He had just three receptions for 25 yards before being a part of one of the biggest plays in recent CU history.
“(Receivers coach Jason Phillips), he just stayed on me, man,” Wester said. “He trusts me. He believed me, and I trust and believe in myself as well. It’s football. You’re not going to be perfect. You’re gonna have mistakes out there. … As long as you make up for it, everybody going to forget about those drops.”
Running back Micah Welch’s final stats weren’t impressive, with nine carries for 22 yards. However, he got the ground game started with a 12-yard run on the first offensive play. Then, he had a 2-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 24-24 with 11 minutes to play in regulation and scored what turned into the game-winning touchdown on a 1-yard run in overtime.
“My mindset is to help the team win, show that we can run the ball, do my assignments, and (show) I can block for Shedeur,” Welch said. “We’re gonna keep the same mindset.”
Omarion Miller hadn’t caught a pass all season until his number was called late in the first half. His impressive effort to bust a tackle and score on a 58-yard pass from Shedeur was massive for the Buffs at the time.
Up front, it was a tough night for the offensive line. The coaching staff even made in-game changes for the first time this season in an effort to fix some issues. CU gave up a season-high eight sacks and the line accounted for five of the Buffs’ six penalties. However, Coach Prime was quick to praise the group for helping Welch get into the end zone on his two runs.
“The line always gets ridiculed, but we scored on a run (for the game winner),” he said. “You know, we scored on a darn run.”
Defensively, the Buffs had several players come through, including safety Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig (game-high 13 tackles), defensive lineman Shane Cokes (five tackles and his first sack as a Buff) and linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green (eight tackles, one tackle for loss).
Right before Hunter’s forced fumble to win the game, Silmon-Craig made a vital tackle on a 13-yard run by Baylor quarterback Sawyer Robertson to keep him out of the end zone. Samuel Okunlola had a huge tackle for loss late in the fourth quarter that contributed to Baylor having to try a longer field goal – a kick that missed and kept CU’s hopes alive.
As a group, the defense held Baylor to seven points in the last 34 minutes of the game, including stops on five consecutive possessions at one point.
“I mean, we know we gotta go out and dominate, but we gotta put together two halves,” Hunter said.
The defense epitomized the team as a whole, battling through some early adversity to make key plays in crunch time.
Hunter and Shedeur were brilliant in the biggest moments, but their teammates coming through in the clutch was just as big.
“No matter what transpires, I just love that these guys could just flush it and move on to the next play,” Coach Prime said. “And that’s something we’re trying to teach. It’s something we’re educating them on, and it’s something I’m proud of.”
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